German North Polar Expedition

The Teufelschloss Mountain ("Devil's Castle") in Kejser Franz Joseph Fjord; painting by unknown artist after drawings and descriptions made by members of the Second German North Polar expedition

German North Polar Expedition was a short series of mid-19th century German expeditions to the Arctic. The aim was to explore the North Polar Region and to brand the newly united, Prussian-led German Empire as a great power. In 1866, the German geographer August Petermann wrote a pamphlet ("Proclamation to the German Nation") strongly advocating German participation in the international quest for the North Pole, which kicked off the setup of a German expedition.

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The first expedition took place in the summer of 1868 and was led by Carl Koldewey on the vessel Grönland. The expedition explored some hitherto unknown coastal tracts of northeastern Spitsbergen, but did otherwise not lead to any new scientific knowledge. However, it served as preparation for the second expedition.[1]

As the supply ship, the Hansa followed the Germania until July 19, when Hegemann misread a flag signal by Koldeway and went ahead; the ship disappeared in the fog and got separated.[2] The agreement was to meet in such a situation at Sabine Island. After unsuccessful attempts to get there, Hansa was inescapably stuck in the pack ice by mid-September 1869. During the next month, the ship was slowly milled by the ice and finally sank on October 22 at a position 70°32’N, 21°W approximately 10 km from the East Greenland coast. The crew managed to survive the winter in a shelter built of coal dust briquettes, while drifting on the sea ice southward along the eastern coast of Greenland. In June 1870, the crew got to the coast by boat and reached the MoravianHerrnhut mission at Friedrichsthal (modern Narsaq Kujalleq) near Cape Farewell, from where they got back to Germany on a Danish ship.[1]